The Monster Under the Bed
by NiaKing
Summary: The children of Little Whinging, a small and uneventful town in America, have all seen him. The monster under the bed. However no matter what, not a single child has been able to convince anyone else of his exsistence. So when the Potters move in with the Dursleys into number 4 Privet Drive due to financial issues, they unwillingly become involved with this old bedtime story.
1. Birthdays Are(not) Important

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Harry Potter as my name is not J.K. Rowling!

The Monster Under the Bed

Chapter One: Birthdays Are(not) Important

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><p>Ever since he could remember, little Harry Potter had always been a light sleeper. So when he had heard the soft whispers of his mother's voice in the middle of the night he slipped out of bed with his favorite stuffed animal, Padfoot, and a sense of unease. His feet hardly made any sound oddly enough. In fact you wouldn't have been able to hear him at all despite being barred foot on a wooden floor. As Harry approached the bedroom down the hall nearest to the bathroom he caught a few words from his father.<p>

"...orried about him. He hasn't any friends and we've been here nearly a month, Lily."

His mother sighed. By the sounds of it, she had had enough of this conversation. They must have had this conversation often then, Harry realized. He pushed his ear up against the door to hear his mother's reply better.

"Just because he isn't going around with a gang of friends terrorizing everyone like you did when you were his age doesn't mean we should worry James." Lily knew she was being callous towards her husband but it was nearly midnight and she just wanted to sleep.

"That's not what I meant. You know that. It's just... well he should have made at least one friend by now, but he never leaves this house. It'd be fine if he stayed in to play with Dudley but he doesn't. He just stays up in that room of his reading. It's already hard enough that we had to move but it's going to be even harder at school when he doesn't have a single friend when he's the new kid. I'm just looking out for him." James' voice was starting to raise as he grew more passionate about the subject.

"And you don't think I-" She made a sound which was probably her sighing through her nose in frustration. "Never mind. We're not having this conversation right now. I'm going to sleep."

And true to her word, Harry hadn't heard a word more from either parent. He shuffled awkwardly on his bare feet before shuffling back to his own room. He laid upon his new bed and looked to the glow-in-the-dark star covered ceiling. His eyes narrowed in the dark as he could barely make out the stickers without his glasses.

It _had_ been nearly a month since the Potters had moved in with the Dursleys. With both Lily and James working two minimum wage jobs each while balancing college online they eventually couldn't keep up with expenses. Harry's aunt, Petunia, had offered her home to them because she loved her sister and her family very much and didn't want her nor them to suffer. It became apparent that Harry's parents hadn't ever spent much time with him once they settled in. The two seemed more concerned about making rent than getting to know their son. Harry knew that wasn't entirely true though. He could understand why he barely saw his mother and father. They were trying their best raising him despite being completely unprepared for a child. He knew because he had heard them. For some reason the two were always having a late night discussion. Most likely involving himself. Harry wasn't even sure if he minded that they hadn't wanted him at first. He was so lost in his own world by now he didn't think he'd ever reconcile with his parents.

Looking over to the alarm clock on his right, Harry had noticed the time was 12:03 AM. His eleventh birthday had came and had been present for three whole minutes. Harry really couldn't find it in himself to care. He had gone the past few years without birthday parties let alone birthday gifts due to money being tight in the family, so his birthday had became just another day. Just like Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and just about any other holiday one could think of. They hadn't had the money nor time to celebrate anything. So Harry just whispered to himself, "Happy Birthday I guess." Before dozing off once more.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

Harry was surprised when in the morning he awoke to five presents by his nightstand. Two notes resided on top of the nightstand. '_Your mother and I have gone out with your uncle and Duddy-kins for groceries! Don't worry hun, we'll all be back soon. Happy Birthday! Enjoy your presents sweetie -Your Auntie Pet_'. The next note wasn't on the flowery note paper that his aunt's had been on. Nor did it have the same neat and clean cursive. It was on a sticky note with splotches of ink all over it and the handwriting was barely legible if one was being brutally honest. '_Sorry champ, had to go in for work today but I'll be back when... Well you'll see! Happy Birthday Harry, I love you -Dad_'. As he finished deciphering his father's note he looked back to the pile of presents. _So I'm all alone today? _Harry hummed as he glanced towards the clock which also resided on top of the nightstand. It was half past one in the afternoon.

Harry picked up the closest present. It was wrapped haphazardly with odd cuts and had its fair share of tape as well. Looking upon the tag, Harry wasn't surprised to discover it was from his father's best friend and one of his godfathers, Sirius Black. Upon unwrapping it he discovered it was a rugby ball. He smiled lightly as he remembered he had promised they'd play rugby with his dad one day. A card was attached to the slightly worn looking ball. '_Happy Birthday Prongs-let! Things have been pretty busy here in England with Moony. Why we didn't even get to see our favourite person in the world, and on his birthday no less! Well Moony did of course, considering _I'm_ his favourite person. Don't worry though, you're a close second! We'll be back come Christmas with Teddy and Tonks. Oh they say hello by the way! Have not a nice birthday but a wonderful one! -Padfoot_'. Harry managed to have a proper smile by the end of his godfather's card. Another person had wrote on the other side of the card. '_Sorry we won't be back for your birthday Harry. Unfortunately things have been quite hectic here in England. We will return for Christmas though. I'll be giving you my present in person then, Sirius doesn't trust the post at all. Have a happy birthday Harry -Remus_'. Remus' name was crossed out and in Sirius' handwriting was 'Moony'. So was his own name which was replaced with 'Padfoot'. Harry had always found the pair to be odd as they were like complete opposites. _Maybe that's why they like each other so much._

Turning to the next gift Harry discovered it looked the nicest. It was wrapped so nicely in a pure black wrapping paper he almost felt bad for tearing it open to see what resided inside. Upon inspecting the card attached he found his other godfather's handwriting. '_I do hope you're still keeping with your reading. I have told your mother multiple times that I will _not_ have a hand in raising another James. Otherwise please do enjoy your birthday, Harry. Your mother is concerned over your introverted personality as of late. I have told her not to fret but you know how your mother is. -Severus Snape_'. If Harry had to choose which of his godfathers was the oddest he'd probably go with Snape. One moment he seemed to enjoy his presence and the next he wanted nothing to do with him. Sirius had told him that it was because Harry looked so much like his father but acted more like his mother. Once Harry had read Snape's card he looked to his present. It was a first-aid kit with a guide on how to use it. Snape had always held a love for chemicals and medicines so it hadn't shocked Harry too much at this present. He even liked it. Harry just generally enjoyed learning about the world around him even though he mostly day dreamed himself away from it.

The next two presents were smaller and from his blood relatives. First he opened the bigger one from his aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon. They didn't have a card included which Harry didn't mind. They'd probably tell him Happy Birthday in person and that's why one wasn't included. _Or they just forgot_. They did tend to be forgetful whenever Harry tended to be involved. But then again everyone seemed to be that way with him. Inside was a bottle of cologne. Harry giggled at that. His uncle Vernon was always preaching to him and Dudley about becoming men and what that would mean. Considering they're only sixth graders, Harry had a feeling he wouldn't be using it anytime soon. In the next box was a new set of glasses gifted to him by his parents. It too had no card which Harry didn't mind. He put them on and blinked away lingering effects of sleep. That left one box left. Harry picked it up in confusion. Unless Remus was able to send his present despite Sirius' wishes then he couldn't imagine who else there would be to give him a present. _Maybe Dudley got me a present this year? _He quickly dismissed the thought. Dudley liked Harry enough around the adults but wasn't very nice when they were alone. _Aunt Petunia must have forced him to give me one then_.

The gift wrapping looked to be of an expensive variety, Harry wasn't sure how he could tell. _It feels different_, he realized. The pattern wasn't overzealous at all, just some snakes with a backdrop of green and black stripes. On this present was a light silver bow and once Harry carefully turned it about he saw no tag which marked its original owner. He carefully ripped the paper just as he had done with Severus' gift. The box hadn't been too big, in fact it was his smallest gift out of the pile. Even smaller than his parent's gift. Harry lifted the lid of a pure white box and inside was a key linked onto a chain. He lifted it up and inspected it. The key reminded Harry of an old one to an old treasure chest that he had read from one of his story books. With the little snakes engraved into it Harry could say it did look rather elegant. The chain for the key was gold, _no it just looks gold_. Harry reasoned. After all who would use a gold chain to hold such an old key which probably didn't open anything.

Harry looked around as if the mysterious gift's purchaser would suddenly appear. Once he had made sure that no one hid underneath the bed nor inside of the closet he concluded no one but he was now in his room. He wasn't sure if he should put the necklace on considering he hadn't a clue as to who had gave it to him. So he went to search the box and gift wrapping once more only to find that both had disappeared from his pile of trash. After then confirming that there in fact was no trace of either he had decided that it would be best to put the mysterious necklace away.

So that's what he did.


	2. The Children Know One Common Enemy

**Disclaimer:** Sadly I do not own Harry Potter in any shape or form!

The Monster Under the Bed

Chapter Two: The Children Know One Common Enemy

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><p>If Harry was being honest he'd have to say he didn't quite like school. That wasn't to say he wasn't an intellectual, far from it, he just found it to be ridiculously boring after a while. So when September 1st rolled around he was in his uniform and feeling a bit robbed. This was because Harry had been to school with his cousin Dudley before, when they were younger, and <em>then<em> he hadn't had friends because he always chased them away. When he wasn't at school with Dudley he still hadn't any friends but that was of his own accords and not Dudley's. However Harry felt as though he ought to attempt making friends for his parent's sake if not for his own. That would prove to be even more difficult now that he and Dudley shared the same middle school. Or so Harry had first thought when he entered this new school.

Harry had been slightly worried that his Aunt Petunia had dropped he and Dudley off at the wrong school due to the shocking lack of students in the halls. Then he found a strong amount of anxiety for _we must be late!_ came across his mind. He looked to his _older_ cousin. He seemed unconcerned with this newly discovered fact. Then again Dudley had never struck Harry as the scholar type so why would _he_ be concerned.

"Dudley." His cousin didn't miss a beat while he made a noise of acknowledgement. "Why did your Mum drop us off late?" This time Dudley did stop which made Harry nervously back away. Even though Dudley's mother had forced him to be nice at home Harry still didn't feel at ease with him. _We're not at home, are we?_

"What do you mean? Class starts at seven forty-five, and right now it's…" Dudley looked to his new watch he had received on his birthday. _How is that not broken yet?_, Harry wondered as Dudley worked out which was the minute hand and which was the hour hand. "Seven thirty-three. See Harry, we're early! Jeez and I thought _you_ were the smart one." Harry glared at Dudley. _At least it doesn't take me five minutes to work out how to read a non-digital clock._ "Come on then! If we don't hurry then we'll _really_ be late." Dudley raced forward as fast as his little fat legs could carry him while leaving Harry in confusion.

"Wait! Where do we go? _Dudley!_" Harry begun to race after him however he remembered his manners and instead speed-walked after his cousin. Which was the equivalent of running for Dudley so he caught up without much trouble.

"We're going to class, _duh_." Dudley rolled his eyes as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. Which to him it probably was but to Harry, the new kid, it wasn't. So he kept on questioning.

"How do you know where you're going if you haven't got a schedule?" Dudley had slowed down as his stamina was quickly wearing. He looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow and a slight smile.

"The bulletin board." When Harry looked as if he was going to ask another question, Dudley uselessly added, "Didn't you see it when we walked in?" Harry felt that he should respond however Dudley's comment caused him to reflect. No he hadn't seen a bulletin board when they had walked in. He actually hadn't seen much of _anything_ but his cousin and his own feet now that he realized. This prompted him to look away and look around.

Hogwarts, _what a silly name for a school_, hadn't been all that big from the outside and that held true for the inside as well. What it lacked in size it made up for in decoration. The walls were covered in creations from other students, and by the looks of it there weren't too many students because some of the names had kept repeating themselves. Harry had stopped walking when he saw a mural of a man with a cloak painted onto the wall. His shoulders held a snake and only his eyes were visible. One would think they would be ominously red however that wasn't the case. They were a vibrant blue which bore into the soul. Parts of the painting were colored differently, most likely due to it being restored multiple times over the years, but those eyes were one continuous shade of blue.

Once Dudley had realized the smaller patterning of Harry's feet had ceased he looked over his shoulder in curiosity. Harry had seen him in his peripheral vision and so he asked,

"Who is that?" A simple enough question, yes, but not to Dudley. And not to any of the other children in Little Whinging. After a few breaths of silence Harry turned his gaze away from those blue eyes and to the shivering form of his older cousin. "_So?_ Who is that?" He repeated with less patience this time.

"The monster under the bed." Dudley muttered. He then turned around and began running once more. Harry took one last look at the mural before running after his cousin again.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

A few minutes later Harry stood before a class of twelve other children. It seemed that they had all known each other from birth, _they probably _have _considering how small of a town this is_, so when this unruly and scrawny child stood before them they stopped all chatter.

"Good morning students." A strict sounding woman greeted from behind Harry. She had her hair in a tight and professional bun with complementary glasses and clothing. All in all the woman's appearance had demanded respect from every fiber of her being. And the children weren't stupid enough to deny that demand. Neither was Harry as he stood a little straighter.

"Good morning Professor McGonagall." Called back the students. Today they seemed more enthusiastic. Which was expected after all it wasn't everyday a new student arrived at Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall smiled softly towards them.

"Now I'm sure you all are wondering who this young man in front of me is." Noises of agreement sounded throughout the classroom of varying excitement. "Well so am I. Would you like to introduce yourself?" Professor McGonagall looked down to Harry with a polite smile. Harry nodded to her then looked back to the students, _no my classmates_.

"I'm Harry Potter and I've just moved into town to live with family." He tilted his had towards Dudley. The children looked to him and Dudley waved back with small grin. A young girl with bushy hair raised her hand quickly. Her face filled with determination. "Uh... yeah?"

"Why hasn't Dudley mentioned you yet if he's family?" The others either agreed with her or sighed at her intrusion on the new student's life. Harry merely looked at her with slight apprehension. He had expected_ someone_ to be smart, or dumb, enough to question his past.

"Dudley and I aren't very close. That's sort of the reason why my family decided to move in with his, to get to know each other better." Harry knew what he added was a lie but it seemed to shut the other's up therefore he felt no guilt. The girl looked satisfied and leaned back into her seat. Professor McGonagall took this as a sign to take over her class once more.

"I would love to have introductions however there's much to be done today." The students groaned in disapproval over the idea of actually working on the first day back to school. "Now that won't be getting us closer to being finished with two step equations now will it?" She turned away from the slightly distressed students to Harry. "Mr. Potter if you will, please take a seat at Miss Granger's table." She motioned towards the bushy haired girl from before and although Harry gave her a small smile, he grimaced inwardly.

Each table was circular and had five to a table. Considering there were three tables and fourteen other students only one table had four students instead of five and that happened to be this Miss Granger's table. She was in the middle of the others at her table. At her right was a red headed boy with patches of dirt on his face, the other boy to Miss Granger's left was, in contradistinction, was a clean and blonde boy who looked absolutely aristocratic, and lastly the closest to Harry, on the crude looking boy's right, was a scared looking kid who didn't have anything else going for him in the looks department if Harry was being honest.

Once he sat down in between the stuffy looking child and the plain and frightened one he looked to them all as they looked at him.

"Um hello." Harry greeted. The bushy haired girl smiled and outstretched her hand to Harry.

"Hermione Granger. It's nice to meet you." He took her hand cautiously and nodded. The other boys at the table took this as a sign to introduce themselves as well. Harry wasn't the least surprised at Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy's names. They just seemed to fit the two and Harry couldn't quite figure out why. However Neville Longbottom's name had mixed results with him. On one hand yes Longbottom did fit this child however on the other Neville seemed too fancy. He would've expected his name to be more ordinary like Daniel or Scott.

Their introductions were soon cut short when Professor McGonagall had given out instructions on the board. The five worked silently on their math problems with Hermione occasionally helping the boys in here group. Once they had all finished their classwork they found they had had spare time on their hands. The blonde boy, Draco, turned to Harry with a curious stare.

"Has anyone told you?" He asked. Ron and Neville looked shocked and slightly offended at the question while Hermione, who had seen the question coming, waited anxiously for Harry's reply. However Harry wasn't sure what that reply should be when he hadn't really understood the question.

"I'm sorry, what?" When Draco looked annoyed at Harry and seemed ready to repeat himself Hermione cut in.

"He's asking you if you've heard the legend. Since you're new and all." She had dropped her voice to a whisper as she looked around. Once she had leaned in the other four boys had done as well. Harry shook his head. He hadn't heard anything about a legend. He would've remembered something as interesting as that in such a dull town.

"_Hermione_ why are you even bringing this up? I thought you said it was a bunch of rubbish." The red headed kid, Ron, had whined as he scrubbed at his dirty face. Draco made a face while Harry internally smiled.

"_Yeah_ well that was until two weeks ago when Ginny, that's Ron's younger sister by the way," Hermione had turned to Harry briefly before returning to the story. "When she had came over on girl's night and we _saw_ him." Neville looked absolutely terrified while Draco seemed at least a little shaken up. Ron made a comedic expression of shock. Harry didn't care about their reactions though.

"Who's _he?_" His four classmates turned to each other before saying in unison,

"The monster under the bed." Harry's face must have properly displayed his confusion as Ron elaborated.

"He's this sort of stalker. No body knows where he came from but we do know what he wants, _children._" Harry felt as though the fear being expressed on the other three's faces was unnecessary. They were eleven years old. Surely that didn't classify them as children?

"Okay? So what? We're older than little kids you know." Draco shook his head lightly.

"He's not _just_ looking for little kids, Harry. He's looking for our _youth_." Harry opened his mouth to question this when _Neville_ of all people interrupted him.

"Haven't you heard the legend?" _This whole conversation _started_ because I said I haven't._ Neville quickly followed this up with, "It's like a nursery rhyme; A young teen once had a pickle, he realized soon his youth would trickle, so he had an idea which made him laugh so much it tickled," Ron continued the rhyme.

"He'd steal the souls of children to add to his own, and swore that he alone would not reap what he had sown," He metaphorically passed the rhyme down to Hermione.

"However he was stopped by a great wizard but only temporarily, now he must wait in the shadows although he'll do it merrily," They all then turned to Draco whom finished this rhyming legend.

"For he waits for the day that his soul would be released from an old tome, by whispering through the old souls he had stole, he hopes to use mind-control to once more become whole." Harry's table partners looked to him for a reaction. They never got to properly see one as a bell had rang and signaled the end of class.


	3. Disembodied Voice Sounds Cooler

**Disclaimer:** I only own this fanfiction idea! I do not own any of the characters nor the story they come from, Harry Potter.

The Monster Under the Bed

Chapter Three: Disembodied Voice Sounds Cooler Than Auditory Hallucination

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><p>Three days later Harry had found himself staring once again at the glow-in-the-dark star covered ceiling. The Dursleys had taken a small vacation to visit Dudley's aunt Marge. And with them they had taken the piece between his parents' nightly discussions. For at one in the morning the two were having a whisper-shouting match. This time about Snape being one of Harry's professors at Hogwarts.<p>

"I don't have anything against him Lily, honestly! I just don't think he's a very good teacher I mean come _on_-" Lily interrupted her husband's complaining with a sharp voice. The one she reserved for Harry when he had done something he knew he shouldn't have done and refused to admit he had done it. Harry grimaced.

"Don't James. I think we both know why you're _really_ mad." It became apparent that James too had connected that this was the mother's mother voice as he laughed nervously.

"Really Lily, why I'm _really_ mad? Come off it! _Snivellus_ is just a terrible teacher, Dudley's told me so himself." At this point it had become a sort of game of tennis. With one point in the argument being brought up the other then had a retort to bounce it back to their partner and so forth. Harry attempted to muffle their consistent verbal conflict by covering his ears with his pillow.

"Oh so Dudley told you now? What did he say _Potter?_ 'Oh hey _Uncle_ James! Guess what? There's this teacher at mine and Harry's school and he's just _horrid_, could you please, _please_ tell Auntie Lily that he might not be a good influence on my cousin? I mean two days is enough to know a guy, _right?_ He wears all black and _should_ have been _my uncle!_'" Harry realized that he would have never heard this had his parents bothered to keep in mind of the time and remain whispering. However Lily had lost her temper and had shouted as loud as she could at Harry's father.

For what seemed like way too long both had remained silent. Even Harry had held his breath to hear the possible conclusion to this fight.

"You don't mean that." James said in a sober tone. Lily had remained silent. "You don't mean _that!_" James repeated again with more desperation.

"I'm not happy James." Harry's mother sounded subdued and calm. As if she had waited for this conversation to happen. _And she probably had_. "I think we need a break." And with that the shouting match began again despite it almost being two in the morning.

Harry shoved the pillow hard against his face and groaned into it. His mother and father were always getting into fights like this but never had he heard them get so loud. It made Harry's head hurt so much that he tightened his hold on the pillow. He was by no means suicidal but he just didn't want to be there in that moment of time.

"You'll never suffocate yourself like _that _you know." A calm voice filled the room and Harry sat up quickly. His hands fumbled as they scrambled to put on his glasses. Once they had harshly been slammed onto his face he looked around for the source of the voice.

A deep chuckle was all that remained in the mostly empty space, Harry's family hadn't had the money for him to be materialistic, much to Harry's surprise.

Harry wanted to ask a dumb question like who are you or what are you doing in my bedroom but instead all that came from his mouth was,

"Why not?" Harry received no reply.

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The next day at school Harry had finally managed to loose the other children. He now resided in the peaceful silence of the library where he browsed the sections for any books which he might have had an interest in. When his table partners had learned of his love to read they had immediately compared him to Hermione. However it was soon revealed that the two were completely different types of bookworms. Hermione had read for information and knowledge where Harry read fictional tales and disliked textbooks.

As Harry explored the many different fictional titles on the worn shelves of Miss Pince's library he found a rather interesting book. It was completely black and looked incredibly old. The only decoration were the corner's simple little plaque and the name 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' engraved in the back.

He picked it up and opened it with a cocked eyebrow. The pages were completely blank and yellow with crinkles only _old_ paper could produce.

"What the…?" He pouted and made to put the book back in it's place when the same voice from before had whispered gently into his ear.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Harry dropped the book in surprise and spun around. No one else was in the library let alone right behind him. Miss Pince gave him a questioning glance before returning to her… whatever it was that she did.

"Why not?" Harry whispered almost instantly when he registered whose voice it could've been.

"My, my, my a broken record are we?" _Again with the chuckle_, Harry frowned and narrowed his eyes in the direction of the disembodied voice.

"It's a good read." Came a few heartbeats later.

"What?" A sigh came from the left and Harry turned his body towards it.

"That book you've got or well _dropped_. It's a good read." The voice said nothing more to Harry as he picked said book up from the floor.

Harry wanted to just leave it on the floor just to spite the voice. But then again it never said specifically for him to read or not read it. _Wait why am I even thinking about this? It was a voice. In my _head_. What does a voice inside my head know about a book I've never read before? Besides it's_ blank_._ And just for good measure Harry flipped through the book again to prove to himself that not a single page held a word.

Once again Harry put away the book and walked away from it. He looked up to see Neville. He raised his hand to wave awkwardly towards him. He had always managed to make Harry feel a little bad about keeping his distance from the others. Neville hadn't returned the gesture nor did he even look at Harry. He was staring behind him and only now did Harry realized that Neville had looked rather shocked and frightened. Harry turned behind him to see what Neville was staring at but there was nothing. He looked back to him with a raised eyebrow.

"You alright Neville?" He whispered. Neville shook his head and blinked profusely. Then he looked to Harry and shook his head.

"What why?" Harry moved closer to Neville whom had taken to staring behind where Harry had stood.

"Did you not see him?" His voice wavered as he tried to keep it down. This was a library they were in.

"See _who?_" _I swear if he says 'the man under the bed' that I will strangle him myself_. Harry heard that chuckle again, too close to his ear to feel safe, and whipped his head around. Neville whimpered and stepped back.

"What?" Harry turned back and had whispered but it had came out a little harsher than he had attended due to his irritation and growing fear.

"We gotta get _Hermione_." He whispered back in a terrified whisper. He grabbed Harry's arm and stirred him out of the library. Much to Harry's displeasure as he hadn't even gotten _one_ book. Not even that weird looking one without a letter in it.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

Hermione Granger was very excited today. For her birthday was in the next fifteen days. And considering how each day tends to slide by faster than expected that was almost like no time at all. Her good mood was interrupted by a shaken Neville and generally confused Harry. She smiled at the two before dropping it quickly.

"What's the matter?" She was concerned for the two since they never really were together. That and Neville had a death grip on little Harry.

"We saw…" Neville took a moment to catch his breath as Harry did as well. _Had they raced here? Don't they know it's against the rules to run in the hallway? Not to mention it's very dangerous. They could've fallen on the way here._ As Hermione went to lecture them Neville had caught up in his breathing.

"Him! We saw him in the library! Well I did but Harry couldn't!" Hermione looked to Harry as if to confirm or deny Neville. Harry shrugged and responded.

"He said something had been behind me and… ah nevermind." Harry was going to mention the auditory hallucination but it was just that. Therefore it would've made Harry feel a little silly for even thinking about admitting he was hearing voices.

"And what? It's alright Harry you're safe now. He doesn't go around where adults and large crowds." She gestured to the cafeteria, when did we get here so quickly?, which was filled with around fifty people including staff.

He didn't know why but he was comforted by Hermione's words so he decided to no longer be silly and say what he had heard but Neville had beat him to it.

"We heard him too! That's what you were going to say right?" Harry frowned at Neville who apologized but nodded in agreement when he turned back to Hermione.

"Heard who?" Ron Weasley had made it to their table with a styrofoam plate filled with various cafeteria food. He sat next to Hermione while Neville sat opposite of him. Harry took his seat next to Neville as he spoke.

"The monster under the bed!" Harry cringed as literally everyone around them had heard what Neville had said.

"Did somebody say-" Someone had began from behind Neville.

"The monster under the bed?" Someone else had finished. Harry and Neville had turned around to see the speakers while Ron looked a little annoyed. The two were identical twins with hair as red as Ron's. Harry could vaguely recall Ron mentioning his prankster older twin brothers.

"Bugger off you two. You're teenagers." Ron said stubbornly. The one on Neville's left chuckled lightly with his twin.

"Oh silly Ron didn't you get the memo?"

"The monster under the bed likes teenagers too."

"In fact I think he prefers them if you know what I mean" The one on the left had finished in a coy voice and waggled his eyebrows. His twin giggled behind his hands as if pretending to be embarrassed.

"Oh Feorge! You mustn't forget our audience now! Our dear younger brother's friends are only eleven years old."

"Actually I'm ten. But I'll be eleven in fifteen days." Hermione added in.

"Well then all the more reason to keep some thoughts to ourselves then Gred!" Said… Feorge? Who are these two?

"Who are these two?" Harry turned to Ron. He still had patches of dirt on his face but Harry had gotten used to it.

"Why this is Feorge Weasley." Said the one on the right as he put both arms up and to his right and did a mock bow.

"And this handsome gentleman is Gred Weasley." Said the other while he copied his twin's actions. Ron groaned.

"No you're not. The one on the left is George and the one on the right is Fred. Honestly why can you two never say your names right?" Ron had crossed his arms briefly before returning to eating.

"Oh now you've spoiled all of our fun little brother!" George pouted.

"Why did you go on and do that then? It's not everyday that our names go unknown in the little town of Little Whinging!" Fred added in with an identical pout.

"That's becwase we neva get any foraners!" Ron remarked with a face stuffed with macaroni and cheese.

"Ron!" Hermione chastated.

"Wot?" She stared pointedly at his food before he went, "Oh." And swallowed. "Sorry my bad." He smiled sheepishly.

"So what's all this about-" Fred began.

"The monster under the bed?" George ended.


	4. A Serious Severus Loves

**Disclaimer:** Four chapters later and I still don't own Harry Potter!

The Monster Under the Bed

Chapter Four: A Serious Severus Loves

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><p>It was a Sunday morning when Severus Snape arrived at number 4 Privet Drive. He hadn't been to the sad and boring house ever since he and Lily were children. It brought some personal memories to light after nearly seventeen years. Broken promises and shattered dreams along with what if's that he knew would never be. That is until Lily had called him in the middle of the night crying.<p>

Now Severus was a reasonable man. He didn't allow his imagination to run wild and he certainly never held unto false hope. Not anymore at the very least. However when he heard of his best friend's turmoil with her husband well he couldn't help but think once more, what if?

With a bouquet of lilies in hand he knocked on the ordinary door and waited. Lily's son answered the door and he smiled. Severus smiled back, albeit a smaller one but still a smile. Her son looked more like him there was no denying that. But Harry had had the exact same eyes as his dear Lily and for that he could find it in him to forgive the similarities between Harry and his father.

"Hey Sev! What are you doing here?" Harry opened the door wider to allow Severus inside. "Is this about the homework due tomorrow? Because if it is I-" Severus snickered at his godson.

"No Harry. Your mother asked that I come by and visit for a while. Although I _do_ hope your homework is done by tomorrow. You may be my godson but I will not accept any late work whatsoever. Do you understand?" He finished off sternly. After Harry had flinched a bit Severus had felt a little guilty at his cool reply. But soon the guilt left as Harry nodded and said,

"Yes sir!" Severus' smile grew as the warmth in his heart did. Harry needed someone to authorize him as he wasn't grown yet. _And with that man he calls a father, he'd never get there without _someone_ showing him the way._

"Good. Now where is your mother?" He looked around as he sat on one of the couches in the living room, "I believe she is in need of some comfort." Harry nodded sadly.

"She went somewhere with Aunt Petunia but she said that she'd be back before lunch… and yeah I bet she does. She was pretty upset. Dad was being a real jerk… but Mom shouldn't have been so mean either." Snape arched an eyebrow and set the pure white flowers down on the coffee table in front of him.

"Care to share?" He gestured to the empty space next to him. Harry looked down at Severus and looked to be in thought before nodding. He sat next to his godfather and placed his clasped hands on top of his crossed legs. He fixed his glasses as Severus turned towards him.

"Mom and Dad have been fighting a lot recently… did they do that a lot too? When they were kids I mean." Severus nodded.

"Yes quite a bit. Actually believe it or not, your mother disliked your father quite a bit when we were your age."

"Huh? Really? Then why are they together now if she didn't even _like_ him?" Severus uncharacteristically shrugged his shoulders.

"I'd like to know that as well." The two remained quiet for a moment, Harry thinking of where to go from there and Severus lost in memories of the past.

"Sev? Severus made an inquiring noise. "Were you and Mom ever you know... together?" Severus' distant gaze snapped back into attention towards Harry.

"All the time... we used to spend every waking moment together." His tone was in coated with sadness. As if he was just now realizing that he and Lily weren't as close as before. Harry shook his head.

"No I meant _together_ together." Harry would've laughed at his godfather's ridiculous expression had he not been serious in his questioning.

"What _ever_ gave you that idea?" Severus said slowly as he blinked rapidly. It seemed as if he was trying to wrap his head around what his godson had said. Harry looked to the floor as he dropped his legs from being crossed to swinging off of the edge of the couch.

"Well it's just that Mom had said... something and... never mind it was dumb." Harry shook his head, brows furrowed in sign of his mind concentrating. _Well he _did_ say he spent _every_ waking moment with Mom..._ Harry was ready to once again disregard this idea when he looked up to his godfather. He looked aghast and his skin looked even whiter against his black clothing. More so than usual.

"What did she say?" His voice was barley above a whisper. Harry would've said he looked and sounded like Harry had said he would kill him, but Harry knew that his godfather wouldn't have even blinked at him. _This must be a touchy subject for him_. Harry frowned.

"Well when she and Dad were fighting she said that you should've been Dudley's uncle instead of Dad." He looked to the door and quickly added, "Don't tell her I told you though, I wasn't even supposed to be up when they were fighting." Severus stared down at Harry with an odd look in his eye. Had it been anyone else Harry would've guessed that they were fighting off tears. But Severus didn't cry... _did he?_

"Are you certain she said that?" Harry nodded.

"Dad was pretty mad afterwards though." He said softly as he looked back down to his swinging legs. Harry was pretty small for an eleven year old. That or the couch was pretty big. No one was quite sure. Severus scoffed.

"Your _father_ has always had a temper whenever he didn't quite get his way." Severus clenched his fists in his lap but quickly let go. He didn't need to have Harry getting the impression that he too had a short temper.

"How long have you known Mom and Dad then?" Harry scooted closer to Severus and he smiled again. His past had always made him uncomfortable and sad but Harry had always made him remember the better parts of it. _It's probably the eyes._ Severus leaned in as well.

"I've known your mother since we were nine. We met your father when we were eleven. Like I said your mother disliked him for... specific reasons so it wasn't until she was seventeen that they started dating." Severus stated stiffly. Harry could tell there was much more to the story but refrained from asking. "He apparently changed his ways. _I_ never saw it but James and I were never close." He ended bitterly. Harry had the decency to allow him a few moments of silence to mull over the past before asking,

"Where did you all grow up?" He honestly couldn't think of anything else to ask. There didn't seem to be anything he could ask that he wouldn't get a vague, incomplete answer.

"In Little Whinging of course." Harry's eyebrows ascended as his lips departed. He fixed his face soon as to not look like a fool in front of his godfather.

"_Here?_ You grew up _here?_" Severus nodded. "You know about... the man under the bed then?" Severus' face scrunched up.

"The _monster_ under the bed, Harry." He corrected then added, "Yes I'm familiar with _him._ I'd ask _where_ you learned about _him,_ but I'm sure it was the other children at school, correct?" Harry nodded. "Don't concern yourself about him."

"But the others said-" Severus raised a hand up and efficiently silenced his godson.

"Forget what they've said. I can personally tell you with guarantee that the monster under the bed was a mere man." When Harry cocked an eyebrow and tilted his head in confusion Severus continued. "When your mother and I were younger we had ran into the man. He was hiding under my bed during a sleepover of ours. He had to flee because at the time, and perhaps even now, your mother had quite the impressive set of lungs and practically the whole neighborhood came over to see if we were alright."

Harry sputtered. "But-!" Severus once again cut him off.

"He was later found and identified as a Mister Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr. He had been the one behind the serial kidnappings and murders of dozens of children. He eventually broke out of prison-" Harry interrupted with a sound of horror but was quickly silenced by the glare he received. "_Ten_ years ago, Harry." Severus suddenly looked reluctant so Harry felt it necessary to intervene.

"Then what?" He was practically bouncing in his seat with anticipation and excitement.

"Well I'm afraid if I tell you your mother will have my head." He merely commented with a wary look in his eyes.

"Why?"

"...If you don't mention a word of this to your mother, I won't tell her about your eavesdropping last night."

"I wasn't eavesdropping, the whole neighborhood and then some could hear those two going at each other!" Severus looked down upon Harry and he shifted uncomfortably. "It's true." He mumbled. Severus still looked down upon Harry and he sighed. "Sorry Sev." Severus nodded in approval and Harry leaned in closer to hear what he had to say.

"When they had found Riddle he had been in your mother and father's home, presumably with you." It was now Harry's turn to be aghast. "As far as we know he didn't do anything to you, per se. He wasn't found like before _however,_" He stressed as Harry seemed ready to interrupt again. "Even if he was hiding among us he'd have to be sixty five by now. Hardly a prime age to continue kidnapping and murdering children." Harry nodded with a grin as he imagined an old man attempting to break into homes with weary bones and a hunched back. Severus smiled back at Harry.

The next moment Lily and her older sister Petunia had walked inside. Lily seemed muted until she looked up and saw Severus and Harry sitting together on the couch. She smiled brightly and Severus had to make an effort to breathe.

"Sev! When did you get here?" She asked excitingly as she made her way over. Severus stood and she threw herself into his arms. He held her and smiled softly. Harry looked up to his Aunt Petunia who pretended to be throwing up. Harry giggled and Petunia joined him.

"He just got here a couple of minutes ago, Mom." Harry supplied as the two broke apart. Lily smiled down at her son and ruffled his already unruly hair.

"Well then that's good! Wouldn't want to keep our guests waiting, right Harry?" He nodded as he tried to smooth his hair down. She chuckled. "Alright so I need to speak with your godfather alone now. Your Aunt Petunia's gonna take you out for ice cream though." Her son cheered but then started to scream as Petunia lifted him up from the couch and placed him on her back.

"You all settled?" She was amused as her nephew got over his initial shock and made himself more comfortable. He made an affirmative noise and she turned back to her younger sister and her best friend. In his hands were a bunch of white lilies and she couldn't stop herself from smiling. "We'll be off now, be careful you two!" She waved as best as she could with holding an eleven year old on her back.

"Bye Mom!" Harry called as he too waved.

"Bye bye Harry!" She grinned and wiggled her fingers in a little wave. Severus nodded towards him as Petunia carried him away to her car.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

_Memories can be such a wonderful thing. But they are sadly a double edged sword. Especially mine._

This was one of the final thoughts of an old man somewhere in the world on his death bed. He looked around to his closest loved ones and he just couldn't help but remember all of his decisions. A heart monitor grew weaker and fainter to him as he could recall all of his mistakes. But he couldn't count that night on Halloween as one. What he had done for James and Lily and their only son... well that couldn't ever be counted as one of his regrets. The twinkle in his eye shone just as bright as it did all those years ago. His eyes closed for the last time as the heart monitor hiccuped between spiked beeps.

"What's the matter? Is he going to be alright?" The usually strict and no-nonsense professor had sounded distressed. A smile began to spread across his lips.

"I'm not sure Minerva. We've done all we can." Madame Pomfrey's equally upset voice responded. As the two shared concerns over his body, which began to grow colder, there was only one last question that he had yet to find the answer to in ten years which he reflected on.

_What ever became of Mister Harry Potter I wonder?_


	5. The Missing

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Harry Potter books or anything related to them. I also am making absolutely no money off of this fan work and later on in this chapter is a quote from the books but seeing as I don't own Harry Potter, I don't own that either! All of that is owned by the lovley Miss J.K. Rowling! The fan fiction idea is completely mine though, as is this writing!

The Monster Under The Bed

Chapter Five: The Missing

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><p>Initially Draco declined Lucius' request to explore the town saying that it was all the same droll so he had to get crafty. There were few things about his son that the elder Malfoy didn't know so when he mentioned Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour he knew he had him.<p>

His only son had begun to seem anxious about some kind of upcoming event. Lucius would have already worked through what had been troubling Draco in such a manner except well... Draco _was_ his son. Sometimes he could let go of childish political games when with his family, and other times… well let's just say that he'd prefer to play with the graying politicians he hardly knew than with a moody eleven year old and a woman with a fiery temper to defend said eleven year old.

As Draco and he strolled up to the many flavors on display he suddenly grinned towards a boy on their left. Lucius had been surprised to say the least. It was the happiest he had seen his son in almost a week.

"Harry!" His son called and said boy snapped his head up from the display case. Lucius observed the exchange quietly. He'd never seen the boy before which was rare as Little Whinging hardly got any foreigners and when they did Lucius was usually among the first to know.

"Oh hello Draco." Harry blinked dumbly as he pressed his hands against the glass. He looked up to Lucius with a curious glance. Lucius Malfoy stared back with equal interest.

"Is this one of your little friends, Draco?" He sounded stiff but then again he had to test his son's friends in the face of possible danger. That had been what his own father had done to him and needless to say he had appreciated it. God knows where he'd be had he dated Bellatrix Black rather than Narcissa Black. Certainly not here as well-known politicians simply did not go to an ice cream parlour by themselves, as he would not bear any children from Bellatrix. Let alone strike up idle chatter with unknown eleven year old boys.

Draco looked to Harry and then back up to his father before shaking his head stiffly. "He's a new student at Hogwarts, father. We've become acquainted although we've yet to have any private conversations." He smiled towards Harry. "Although I hope we can be friends in the near future?" Harry found himself smiling back as he nodded. He had appreciated Draco's honesty and did find himself wanting the blonde's company.

"Yes I do too." The two smiled at each other and Lucius relaxed. Such a sweet boy but not sweet enough to become offended at Draco's blunt honesty could do his son nothing but good.

"Alright then. Why don't you find us a seat then Draco?" He looked hesitant and Harry seemed to observe this as he tapped on the younger Malfoy's arm.

"My Aunt already knows what I want so I can sit with you while you wait for your dad." He offered. Draco looked up to his father and he nodded. So Draco too nodded to Harry and the two ran off to the many booths of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. That left Lucius with Harry's Aunt. She smiled at him after she had ordered one chocolate-vanilla swirl cone and a strawberry milkshake.

"Is that your son then?" She asked as she looked to the two boys at a booth near the exit.

"Yes he is. And that young man is your nephew I presume?" Lucius didn't mind idle chatter with simple minded souls such as Petunia Dursley. He was still on guard as he always was but not as much as he would be with cunning folk such as himself. Petunia nodded.

"He's such a sweet boy, God bless his soul." She put a hand to her heart as she smiled at the unruly boy. Lucius wouldn't have thought anything of her comment had she not looked on the verge of tears. She looked back to him with his cocked brow and laughed breathlessly. "Sorry it's just that... well he's been through so much in just a couple of months. And he's so _young._" She sniffed as she wiped at her eye. "I just imagine if my own little Dudders had to go through so much. Just makes me tear up, you know?" Lucius found it shocking that he _did_ know. He hadn't a clue what young Harry had been through or who Dudders even _was_ but he knew that he never wanted his one and only son, his flesh and blood to go through so much hardship as to warrant tears by onlookers who couldn't do a thing about it.

"Yes." He replied softly as he looked to the two chatting excitingly. Now it just seemed that more important to find what had his son so concerned. Little did he know his son was excitingly speaking about his troubles to young and apparently troubled Harry Potter.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

"So you've seen him then? The man under the bed?" Harry was bouncing lightly in his cushioned seat.

"_Monster,_ Harry. The _monster_ under the bed and yes unfortunately. To be quite honest with you, I hadn't really believed in that _garbage_ until you arrived about a week ago." He peered suspiciously down at Harry. "That's when I'd seen the _thing_ roaming around the halls. It had the _gall_ to wave at me. _Me!_" Draco seemed genuinely upset so Harry refrained from saying "Yes Draco, _you_' or 'Who else would he have waved at?' Draco huffed before realizing such thing wasn't proper as he smoothed down his already slicked back blonde hair.

"Is that all? He just sort of waved and then disappeared?" Harry didn't see what was so bad about that if said man or _monster_ rather had attempted to kidnap_ him_ at the very young age of only one year.

Draco shook his head. "No, you think I'd tell you any of this if he just _waved?_ He _stole_ something of mine." It seemed Draco got sarcastic and snappy when irritated. Harry made a note not to cross him again if only to avoid such biting sarcasm. "It was very dear to me. My Grandfather gave it to me as a birthday present back in June. It was a little chest about this big," He put his hands up and apart by six inches. "with little animals engraved into it."

Harry hadn't thought he'd get so interested with this story, but every time he heard about this monster he couldn't help being curious as to what would scare a whole population of children. "What kind of animals?" It sounded like Draco was describing the chest more so for Harry to return it to him if spotted instead of out of visualization. He hadn't known why he knew that, he was terrible at reading people and their intentions but Draco had seemed like a clever kid. This seemed to be the right question as Draco listed off the details.

"Little red and gold lions, yellow and black badgers, blue and bronze eagles, and green and silver snakes. There was some sort of scribbling on the sides that I couldn't decipher but that's not the oddest thing about it. There's _four_ keyholes." Harry's react seemed to be the one Draco was looking for as he smiled smugly. "I'm not done yet." He added before Harry could finish wording his questions in his mind. "Neville Longbottom's got a red and gold key with the exact same little lions. Then there's Ron _Weasley_ who's got a yellow and black key with the chest's badgers, and even Hermione Granger's got a blue and bronze key with eagles like my Grandfather's chest. I've asked all the other children and they haven't seen my chest nor do they have the snake key." He looked Harry in the eye which made Harry shift a little. "I'm sure you know who I haven't asked yet, right?" Harry nodded slowly. Draco had been honest with him without Harry even _asking_ so Harry thought he'd ought to do the same.

"Is it important? That chest I mean." That didn't mean he wasn't going to get some answers first. Draco seemed a little shocked as he had expected Harry to break the moment he was done speaking. He smirked. _Full of surprises are we, Potter?_

"Yes. As I've said before, my Grandfather gifted it to me. Plus I'm sure even _you_ are curious as to what's inside the box and why the others all received keys on their eleventh birthdays?" Draco feared for a moment that Harry would have nothing to do with this growing mystery and the snake key had actually belonged to a younger child until Harry nodded and looked him in the eye. Now it was Draco's turn to shift under Harry's determined gaze.

"I got a key on my birthday too. It had little snakes on it and was tied around a gold chain." He had whispered as to not gain the attention of his Aunt and Draco's dad whom were speaking lightly to one another. Draco nodded in satisfaction. He knew this child would be special. He just hadn't known how until then.

"The other's had gold chains as well." Draco too lowered his voice. "But now the chest has gone missing so we can't even look inside the darn thing. Just our luck I suppose." He frowned as he crossed his arms. The two fell quiet for a couple of seconds before Draco continued,"But..."

Harry looked up as he trailed off. "But what?" Draco smiled a little.

"But there is _one_ way to recover it." He looked at Harry for a moment before going on. "It won't be easy, we'll have to do something rather _Weasley_ like." He sneered as if being a Weasley was the most disgusting thing to be, which he probably thought.

"What's _Weasley_ like?" Harry oddly empathized the Weasley part as Draco had. Said blonde grinned.

"We'll have to contact him directly. We have to use Tom Marvolo Riddle's diary."

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

It had been quite some time since Minerva McGonagall had visited the principle of Hogwarts. The two had always had teatime with one another to discuss the children and various other topics but he hadn't invited her in over a week now and she was getting quite sick of being ignored. She sharply knocked on his door and waited. After it became clear she'd recieve no answer she called out in a just as sharp tone,

"Albus! Open up, it's Minerva. This has gone on for quite long enough." She huffed as the door was opened. She straightened her back, tilted her head upwards, and held her balled up fist against her chest. "It's about time. What is going o-" It was not Albus Dumbledore who had opened the door but Kingsley Shacklebot, Little Whinging's Chief of police. She looked over his shoulder to see the principle, Albus Dumbledore smiling nervously.

"Ah Professor McGonagall! I was beginning to wonder when my dear Professor would barge inside of my office. I've been rather neglectful of our tea parties as of late. Please both of you, take a seat." He waved towards the chairs in front of his desks as Kingsley and Professor McGonagall exchanged greetings.

When Minerva was in her seat she asked, "Albus what is the meaning of this? Why is Mister Kingsley Shacklebot here?" Albus merely smiled as the twinkle in his eye sparkled with just a tad of concern that worried Professor McGonagall.

"I'd like to know that myself. Mister Shacklebot if you will, please do satisfy our curiosity." Kingsley looked towards the two and felt as if he should ask Professor McGonagall to leave. After all his business was with the principle and not a math teacher. Yet the look on her stern face caused him to retreat from that idea. He clearned his throat.

"Yes well Mister Dumbledore," Albus cut Kingsley off with a small wave of his hand and a gentle smile.

"_Please_, Albus. Mister Dumbledore was my father." Kingsley nodded curtly.

"Very well. Albus, there's been some rather strange reports as of late. Don't worry it's nothing too serious-"

"Obviously it's serious enough to have to report to the principle of a school filled with _children._" Minerva interrupted coldly. Kingsley glared at her, or at least attempted to. Minerva McGonagall was one scary entity when her temper had run short.

"All that's been reported so far is that some children have gone missing and-"

"And that wasn't serious _enough_ for you?" The elder math professor's voice had risen in both shock and anger.

"Oh will you let me finish woman!?" Kingsley cried out in frustration. He really was a patient man but not when it came to being spoken over. He was the Chief of Police for God's sake, he would not tolerate being spoken over. Not anymore. Professor McGonagall seemed to understand this as she shut her mouth. He lips grew white as she pressed them together. "Thank you." He sighed as he ran a hand through his graying hair. "Look, it _is_ serious. But it's only been a few children, Ginny Weasley aged ten and her friend Luna Lovegood also aged ten. Nothing compared to back when we had You-Know-Who around." Kingsley was going to continued but Dumbledore was the one whom had gently cut in.

"Oh my dear Chief of Police, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense. For eleven years I've been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr. It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying such a common name like Tom before." Kingsley stiffened a little at the mentioning of the serial kidnapper and murderer before he nodded warily.

"Alright I suppose. But those little girls could've been out playing for too long and lost their way home instead of being kidnapped. We have nothing to worry about since...Tom isn't around anymore." He flinched at the name that left his tongue. Even Minerva narrowed her eyes and tightened her lips even more at the name. Albus Dumbledore seemed to be the only one not bothered by the name Tom at the moment as he smiled.

"Well I should certainly hope so, Kingsley. I trust you will be able to find Miss Weasley and Miss Lovegood soon then?" Kingsley nodded.

"We're doing our best. I just thought it'd be a good idea to mention this to you just in case it turned out to be important." Dumbledore nodded to Kingsley as they all stood. He shook Kingsley's hand and said,

"I appreciate that Kingsley." They parted ways and Professor McGonagall stood akimbo as she looked to her former Professor.

"You still owe me an explanation as to why our tea _parties_ have been briefly and abruptly suspended. But I'm sure there are more pressing manners than that which we need to attend to." Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes Minerva, I'm afraid there is."


	6. Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr

**Disclaimer:** I own exactly none of anything from the Harry Potter series! The only thing that is mine is the story idea and my dumb, dumb vertigo!

The Monster Under the Bed

Chapter Six: Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr.

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><p>It had been quite lonely yes that much he could say. So when someone was <em>stupid <em>enough, or in _his_ own words '_kind_ enough', to open his diary he cracked a smile in his paged prison. There in front of him was a child. But not just any child, no, this was _the boy who lived_. He called him that for he had no other name for him. That is until the words, '_I am Harry Potter_' bled across his journal.

For Tom Marvolo Riddle the diary's form was always changing. It always took the form of the room it was in. Tom then liked to pretend that they were the ones in the diary and not him. His charade with himself never lasted long as the scenery was filled with the same people but he could never interact with any of them.

In an elegant style he wrote back, '_Hello, Harry Potter. My name is Tom Riddle. How did you come by my diary?_'

To say that Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy were terrified didn't quite cover what they were feeling at the moment. Draco had mentioned that the little black diary always resided in the library. None of the adults seemed to be able to see it though and anyone who dared to write in it always disappeared.

"_It writes back_." Harry whispered, they were still in the library, in a horrified and awed tone. Draco gulped and nodded shakily. "What do I do?" To say Harry was panicking a little was completely understandable. I_t's an old journal, it has no right to be_ writing _back!_

"I don't know, write _something!_" Draco too was panicking but he tried to keep his goal in mind. He had to satisfy his curiosity and he couldn't do that without his Grandfather's chest or Harry's help.

"Like _what?_"

"I don't know! _Anything!_" Madame Pince shushed the two from her desk and glared once they turned to look at her. The two would have continued their quiet bickering had the journal not added, '_You can try responding to my question. How _did _you come by my diary?_' The two shrieked and were then promptly kicked out of the library by Madame Pince. Or they would have been had Hermione not come to their aid. She said something about the two reading a horror novel and having very active imaginations. Madame Pince didn't seem to care one way or another, as long as the two remained quiet.

"I can't believe you two were almost _banned_ from the _library!_ What were you two doing?" Hermione reprehended under her breathe once the three had found a secluded corner away from Madame Pince's prying eyes. Harry lifted the diary to meet the older girl's eyes and was right in doing so as she gasped and looked at he two as if she was looking at someone entirely new. She quickly shut her mouth and glared at the two. "Put that thing away." Her voice could rival Professor McGonagall's stern and snappy replies when the class was feeling particularly chatty. Draco and Harry flinched back. Draco was the first to recover.

"Hermione we need to-" She shut him down with just a look and Harry felt that this was what true power probably looked like.

"What is _so_ important that you'd trade your _soul_ over to have it?" She sounded so horrified that Harry couldn't help but feel it as well. He had no idea what she was talking about as Draco had never mentioned the trading of souls.

"What do you mean?" His classmates looked to him with two completely different expressions. Draco had looked as if he had been caught doing something he knew he shouldn't have and Hermione looked mortified that anyone would do something _before_ being properly educated on what they were doing.

"You have no clue what you were getting yourself into? Who put you up to-" She suddenly snapped her head to Draco. "_Draco!_" She yelled as loud as she could in a library. It still warranted a distant shush from Madame Pince and she grimaced and whisper-yelled, "Sorry, Madame Pince!" Before glaring back at the blonde boy. "You didn't tell him did you?"

"Tell me what?" Harry didn't like when people spoke about him as if he wasn't right in front of them. Hermione seemed to realize this as she turned back to him. "Did he at least tell you that kids go missing because they use _this?_" Hermione had now been holding the book as she took it away from Harry and raised it up for him to see. Harry felt as if the book was angry which was absurd. _How can a book be angry? But then again it does _write_ back_. Harry realized he hadn't responded so he nodded and she sighed in relief. "Alright. Well did he tell you why?" Harry shook his head. Come to think of it Draco had just said that children have gone missing because of it but nothing more. Hermione looked to Draco with an expecting and hard stare. When he attempted to stare back with as much venom she added, "_Well?"_ He sighed harshly before running a hand to smooth his slicked back hair.

"We need to Hermione," Before she could interrupt again he quickly said, "It's about the chest!" She pressed her lips together and both Draco and Harry thought she looked like a mini Professor McGonagall. They had glanced at each other in a knowing way before Harry realized that he should be angry with the boy and crossed his arms like his other friend. He pouted slightly before turning his head up and straightening his back. "He stole it a week ago. Plus I've recently found the holder of the snake key." Draco looked pointedly at Harry and Hermione grinned.

"_Really?_" Harry nodded in a shy manner. He rubbed the back of his neck. Draco smiled easily as the atmosphere calmed.

"See that's why we've got to-" Draco cut himself short when Professor Binns had arrived at their table. He was their history teacher and wasn't very interesting. He seemed to always teach the same thing and had a voice that was perfect for falling asleep to. Only Hermione had been able to resist the allure of sleep in his class and even then she barely managed to do so.

"Good Morning Professor." The three greeted. They waited for the slightly dazed and scratchy response to their greeting but he took a seat and grinned uncharacteristically. In fact he looked rather conscious instead of in his usual haze... Hermione gasped in realization and scooted away as quick as possible. She pushed Draco and Harry up and out of their seats and stood in front of them. She took a defensive pose. Draco seemed to understand first and straightened himself. Harry looked confused at the two of them before turning back to Professor Binns. He hadn't realized what was wrong until he spoke and Harry had never been happier to have friends. For he knew if he had been by himself, he'd have been too late.

"Why children what ever is the matter? I thought you'd be... _overjoyed_ to meet my acquaintance. Good Morning you say? Yes it is a _very_ good morning indeed." He remained sitting with his hands clasped together on top of the table. He chuckled deeply and Harry understood. This was the monster under the bed. _Inside_ of Professor Binns.

Harry could tell Hermione was shaking and even Draco looked as if he was going to step back at any moment, so Harry pushed in front of them and stood tall. He hadn't grown up in fear of this bedtime story so he stared the beast in the eyes which usually were a dull brown but were now of a sharper shade.

Harry knew he couldn't possibly ask all the questions he had on his mind so he had used the word that a great deal of them started with. "Why?"

Professor Binns, or rather the monster, had full blown laughed and had to cover his mouth as to not make too much noise. "I'm afraid that is too broad of a question, Mister Potter was it? Because in the end," He had propped his head upon his hands which were clasped over one another and raised to his chin. "Why anything?" His voice had been amicable enough until he had uttered his question. It was dead and haunting and Harry could barely stop himself from shivering. Hermione whimpered and Draco was now shivering behind him. "I can tell you children want something, isn't that right _Harry?_ You don't mind if I call you Harry, right?" _Why is he only speaking with me?_ It took a moment before Harry realized that being feared by most children and then having one being unafraid would make any monster want to speak with him. He mentally slapped himself.

"Yes, we do." Draco spoke up. He still semi-hid behind Harry and he honestly couldn't blame him. If his Dad was here he'd too hid behind him. Or even Sirius or Severus. But they weren't so he had to be his Dad, or Sirius, or Severus to Hermione and Draco so he stood in front of them with a solid stance. So when the monster had whipped out a small brown box he remained unflinchingly. "My chest!" Draco called out in an undignified way as he stepped up. He would have reached out had Harry not stepped in his way. He had a feeling Draco wouldn't get to keep his arm if he acted upon instinct. Hermione stared wide-eyed and Draco retracted his arm.

"Very observant, Mister Malfoy. You know..." He leaned in and Harry's friends backed away. Harry almost did as well but he knew he couldn't for the sake of his friends. "You look awfully like your Grandfather." He narrowed his eyes. "He was amid the few individuals to have escaped my grasps. Consider yourself... _lucky._" He stood and this time Harry did move as he didn't want his feet to be stepped on. "As for your little treasure chest," He tossed it to Draco and he fumbled with it before holding it steadily. He raised an eyebrow in question and Harry thought that he looked more like his Dad but then again he'd never seen Draco's Grandfather. "Keep it. I merely took it out of curiosity." Harry could tell that even without a careful pause that he had chosen his words meticulously. He also knew that was not the reason as to why he had stolen Draco's chest but thought better of it than to question him. He had turned away from the children but stopped by a nearby bookshelf. "Oh and Harry?" He stiffened at the mention of his name. "It really _is_ a good read." Then he walked away.

The three had waited until they couldn't hear the clomps of his boots before they all let out a collectively held breathe.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

For as long as little Neville Longbottom could remember he had always been a shy yet courageous soul whom lived with his grandmother. He hadn't many friends because the other children just couldn't be nice to a shy yet courageous soul whom lived with their grandmother. But did little shy yet courageous Neville Longbottom let this bring his shy yet courageous soul down? Yes actually but he'd adapted. And in return the children stopped their bullying but only after they had caught news of both of Neville's parents residing in a mental hospital states away from him. _No it's not a hospital. Hospitals are for _helping_ the sick. They'll never help Mum and Dad._ Yet Neville still had his hopes that one day, if God willing, that his Mum and Dad would once more recognize their child.

Neville had thought his prayers were answered when he received an unmarked gift on his eleventh birthday just two months ago. The gift wrapping hadn't been all that extraordinary, just little lions with a backdrop of red and gold stripes with a black bow. It was very small, even smaller than the crystal ball which Ron's older twin brothers, Fred and George Weasley, had given to him as a gag present. Inside was just an old key linked onto a gold chain. The little designs on said key matched the gift wrapping's lions and it held a reddish tint. Neville excitingly put on the makeshift necklace and grinned.

He soon found out that Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley had had keys as well. They were all very old looking and seemed to be a set. A set to what, they hadn't known until Draco had shown them an equally old looking chest. It'd been months since they'd been looking and Neville was ready to give up until Draco had called for a meeting at Hermione's house. They'd be sleeping over so Neville had packed a set of pajamas, a toothbrush, some botany books, a comb, his favorite pillow, and of course some snacks. He wore his key around his neck and had been the only one out of the three to do so. They had been more skeptic and wary of the keys while Neville didn't seem to mind the possibility of danger. Perhaps that's why the key had engraving of lions instead of eagles or badgers or snakes.

Once the children had settled in Hermione's room, with warning from her parents not to be too loud, Hermione and Ron had brought out their keys and, to Neville and Ron's surprise as did Harry.

"_You're_ the snake?" Ron asked incredulously.

"What's wrong with snakes?" Harry seemed a little impatient and Neville understood. When Ron had found out that he had had the lion key he had asked to trade with him as badgers were 'really boring and lame.' Neville and he had gotten into a shouting match and Hermione had to talk to him for a couple of hours before the two made up.

"They're _snakes_ mate." Neville scrunched up his face as did Hermione. One or both of the two would've stood up for Harry except he had stood up for himself.

"That they are. And snakes are wonderful." Ron said nothing more as he seemed to not want a repeat of what had happened between he and Neville. He simply nodded and they all turned to Draco.

"Is everyone settled in?" They had made a pillow fort with nearly all of the Granger resident's pillows and blankets and were now all laying down with snacks all around them in their pajamas. After he got affirmatives from the four other children he nodded. "Alright then now that we have Harry and my chest I think it's time we solve this mystery, don't you agree?" He set the chest down in front of them and one by one they inserted their keys.

"Should we turn them all at the same time then?" Ron had asked as they stared at one another. Hermione nodded.

"That does seem like the most reasonable course of action."

"Right so do we go on three?" Harry asked as he looked around. They all nodded in agreement. "One..."

"Two," Neville called.

"Three!" They all shouted as they turned their keys to the right.


	7. The Wizarding Community Gains and Looses

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or else it'd be a LOT more gray in terms of morals! I only own the idea :D

The Monster Under the Bed

Chapter Seven: The Wizarding Community Gains and Looses

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><p>It had been ten long years. So long that he'd nearly forgotten what he had even been fighting for. Well he would've had he ever forgotten the name Harry Potter. The little boy who couldn't even speak had defeated him ten years ago. Him, the great Dark Lord! Voldemort himself defeat by a child! It was laughable. Despicable.<p>

He sighed to himself. _No matter the boy has been missing for years now. How _unfortunate _for our darling wizarding community. To have lost the boy who lived _and _their precious Albus Dumbledore. What a tragedy_! He cackled to himself. _I didn't even need to do away with the brat, how splendid._

As Lord Voldemort strutted about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry he basked in the glory that was complete and utter victory. An empty victory of course considering the boy who lived was missing or even dead. He stopped mid stride as the thought occurred to him. He was inclined to simply shake his head and check on Professor Quirrell who was recovering from their… _separation_ yet as he ran his spidery fingers over the handrails he could only think over and over again, _what_ had _happened to Harry Potter?_

He changed his direction from the stairwell to the dungeons. Surely Professor Snape could help satisfy his curiosity.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

Harry didn't know what he had been expecting to be inside of the box if anything at all but it certainly wasn't,

"Sticks? You two risked your lives for five _sticks?_" Hermione picked one up between her thumb and pointer finger and looked to Draco and Harry in shocked disgust.

Neville too picked a stick up. "I don't know they sort of look like wands don't think?" Draco scoffed and gave a breathy laugh at him.

"Wands? Nonsense! Magic doesn't exist so wands shouldn't either." Harry glared at him as he too took up a stick.

"I don't see why not Draco. I mean you all _did_ say that the ma- _monster_ was defeated by a wizard, right?" They all nodded or hummed in agreement. "There you go then. These sticks _could_ be wands." He nodded in agreement with himself. "In fact I bet if I waved this around..." He trailed off as he swished the wood upwards. He honestly didn't know what he was expecting as nothing happened. He hummed as he inspected the dull brown piece of wood. It had a silver holster at the end of it but otherwise didn't look to be anything special. "Guess I was wrong." He fixed his glasses onto his nose and frowned at his classmates or rather friends.

He was going to discard it when Ron spoke. "Maybe it's just the wrong one." Harry arched an eyebrow at him.

"What do you mean?" Everyone scooted a little closer to Ron who turned a little redder under the new attention he received.

"Well you lot know Ollivander right?" He looked around and everyone but Harry seemed familiar with the name.

"You mean that daft woodworker down the street? My father-" Draco was cut off by four other glares. He promptly shut his mouth and crossed his arms in a childish manner. He tilted his head up in Ron's direction and the other three turned their heads back to him.

"Yeah well when my dad went to go get us a new dinning table 'cause of Bill's new wife Fleur." He paused and had a dreamy expression on his face as Neville and Draco did. Harry's eyebrows furrowed and so did Hermione's. Harry's because he didn't know this Fleur nor did he know Bill and Hermione's because she seemed annoyed. She cleared her throat and fixed Ron with a pointed look. He coughed awkwardly and nodded his head to snap himself back into attention. "Right. Anyway dad took me along and Ollivander was going off like he usually does and then he does the strangest thing-"

"Doesn't he always do the strangest thing?" Intervened Draco who shrugged his shoulders in defense as everyone stared at him annoyance once more.

"He looked me straight in the eye and said, 'sometimes it isn't the person who chooses the furniture that I make but rather the furniture that chooses the costumer Mr. Weasley.' I know odd, right?" He said to the funny looks his friends gave to him. "I just thought of that. I mean look at them. They're all different like us." As Ron and Draco drew the last wands from the box it closed by itself. The keys too moved by themselves and re-locked the chest then returned to their respective owners. The box flew back to Draco as well. The five stared at their items in awe.

"Okay... in that case we try all the wands until we each have a match. Then what?" Hermione supplied once it was clear that the boys were too shocked to say anything let alone anything _logical._

At Hermione's voice the boys woke from their stupor and it was surprisingly Neville who answered her. "We learn magic?"

"Yes but how? No one has ever believed us about the monster. What are they gonna say when we tell them we found wands and can use _magic?_" As always Hermione was the voice of reason in the room and the boys looked around in thought. That's when Draco had took to shaking around the presumably empty box. It rattled as he did though so he raised an eyebrow.

"I think there's something else inside of it." Draco shook the box again for the rest to hear and there was indeed something within. He set it down and allowed the four to once more turn their keys in time with one another. This time instead of having five tubes which held their 'wands' there was a small trunk. Harry picked it up and furrowed his eyebrows. "What is it?" Draco asked as they all huddled around Harry to see the small item.

"It looks like a trunk? I'm not sure it's too small." At that the trunk grew and the five children screamed as they moved away from it. Despite being as big as them it landed softly and quietly.

"Hermione honey? Is everything alright?" Hermione's dad called from downstairs.

"Yeah dad we're fine! Neville just told a really scary story is all!" Ron and Draco gave Hermione matching horrified looks and Neville just looked plain confused. Harry put his head down and rubbed at the back of his neck. It was clear Hermione had picked the wrong person to say who had had a scary story to tell.

"...Oh well okay sweetie. Just remember not to stay up for too long! And no sugary snacks! You know how bad sugar is for your gums!" Called Mr. Granger.

"Yes dad!" As they heard her father step away from the stairs they sighed in relief. They all looked to a frazzled Hermione.

"Really 'Mione? _Neville_ telling us a _scary_ story? Not that you're not... well you kno-" Neville cut Ron off with a nod.

"I'm more of a rom-com person so I understand."

Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know I just panicked! I mean a tiny little trunk just _grew_. _Right here_ in my _bedroom!_ Do you _know_ how _insane_ that is?"

"Just about as insane as it is to speak to monsters who've possessed your history teacher, open up a little box that you've gotten back from said monster, and then have it have five wands inside of it. And apparently tiny little trunks that grow as well." Harry grinned at Hermione and they all broke in a shaky laughter. Their lives had grown to be much more complicated with Harry Potter's presence and with a boring old town like Little Whinging they hadn't minded that at all. Just a bit shell-shocked that such things could happen to them is all.

"Okay okay we should look in the trunk now." Hermione finished up her giggles and sobered up as she crawled over to the trunk with the others following. The trunk had four keyholes as well so the children once again drew their keys.

"On three again." Called Ron. "One..."

"Two..."

"Three!"

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

Severus Snape was very scared. Was. That was a long time ago. Back when there was still hope for he and Lily to be friends. When she had invited him over for tea and to meet her newborn, Harry. The only date he'll remember more than October 31st, 1981 would be the one that never happened, November 1st, 1981. That was the date she had set. When they were to make up after all these years. Then all these regrets would surely stop shouting back at him. It was going so, _so_ well and then his _Lord_ had taken it all away from him. Even James Potter, the boy or now man he had despised so. He took him too. Would've taken their only son as well except James Potter and Lily's, Snape refused to refer to her as a Potter for she would always be Evans to him, Harry had lived. He had lived and then he was gone. No one knows what happened to the boy. No one but Albus Dumbledore who was now dead.

So when Lord Voldemort had called him from his office Severus Snape was now surprised and no longer scared. He hadn't thought the Dark Lord would want to hear anymore about the boy who lived. The Potter Heir, hell now even the _Black_ Heir with Sirius in prison. _Rightfully so that _dog. _Lily's_ son. The only title to the boy which mattered to him. He blinked a little more than necessary. "What of Potter my Lord?"

"Yes I believe that _does_ cover it. What of Potter." The snake-like man looked up in thought then narrowed his red eyes down at Snape for he was taller. "You see ever since Professor Quirrell was so generous as to offer his body for me I had been curious and even a little _excited_ to see my... _maker_. But as you know when I arrived at Hogwarts, unbeknownst to your _headmaster_," Snape showed no emotion as he stared him in the eye but his heart ached. Albus Dumbledore had helped when he began his mourning for Lily Evans. He remained in mourning and would the rest of his life for her. His clothes would never hold color, he didn't care for them anymore. So it was understandable that he would miss the man after his death. "To my surprise, he wasn't here." He ended flatly.

Snape had known to expect this. He was just surprised that this hadn't come sooner. His Lord was probably considerably busy if after nearly five months Voldemort was barley now asking. "It was quite a shock." Voldemort searched his eyes and relaxed a bit after a while.

"Yes it was. Now my dear spy, is there any reason as to why he wasn't?" Snape resisted the urge to sigh. He really didn't want to get Crucio'd twice. Since he knew he'd have one coming when he said his next line.

"I'm afraid no one knew except for Albus Dumbledore knew of what had happened to the boy" Snape was once again surprised as he did not receive a Crucio or anything of its like but instead a small smile on the man's thin lips.

"Ah yes that barmy old fool. Still thwarting me even in death." He sighed. "No matter. Lord Voldemort always gets his way. Thank you Professor Snape. You may return to your quarters." Snape bowed although he now felt suspicious.

"Yes my Lord." He headed to his office again. Only to find a bright yellow paper which was most definitely not there before laying neatly on top of his other papers. Once he glanced down at it he gasped then clutched onto it tightly and read every word with a powerful and intense stare.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr. was absolutely fuming. It had been _months_ since that Granger girl had ruined his interaction with Harry Potter. It had been so long in fact that it was now a week before the Christmas holidays. That had meant nearly no one had visited the library and he was alone. He had taken to whispering in the librarians' ears and watching her stumble around in search of the source of the voice but even that grew boring as well.

Then one day during lunch break there was little Harry Potter with no one around him walking in with a scared expression. Tom noted that he looked as if he had seen something he shouldn't have. He knew the feeling well. His entire childhood could be explained with that one feeling. He followed the boy around and wished one of the souls of the dead had chosen to stick around but they too grew bored of the empty library. That meant he couldn't form a physical form outside of the diary. He supposed he could trick the boy into writing to him but refrained when said boy picked a table and laid his face down on said table.

It was only then that Tom had realized that the boy was even powerful than before. His magic had grown and it had grown well. It shocked him since Harry Potter had already been powerful enough for his age but now it seemed even more so. With that much magic Tom felt it unbecoming for the little Harry Potter to be laying his face down on a tabletop with such a melancholy expression.

Once he was close enough to whisper into Harry's ear he didn't. Harry shot up and looked around then started waving his hand in the air. Tom stepped away to avoid the tiny hand despite being unable to be affected by it in any way. "**Go away!**" He whispered in a hissy sort of voice. Tom's eyebrows knitted together as he looked down upon the tiny eleven year old, still swatting away. How did he know I was there? He narrowed his eyes before deciding to test something. He poked Harry's little hand which Harry quickly withdrew. "Don't touch me." His warning voice was a little intimidating but reminded Tom more of a complaining kitten than a serious threat so he chuckled. Harry's face grew red as he put his head in his arms on the table. He groaned.

Tom slipped besides Harry on the bench and whispered, "Scoot over." As he pushed Harry aside with the left side of his body. Harry whined but complied as he was smaller and lighter. "So..." Tom trailed off to allow Harry to reply with the stationary so however he did not. He simply remained with his face down in the crook of his arm, facing away from him. Tom frowned and tried again. "So..." _ I will not attempt to coax you into idle chatter a third time you _insolent_ brat_. Yet as he thought so he had already said another, "So..."

"Oh my God." Harry's muffled replied was borderline hysteric as he began to cry. Tom looked at the boy in distress. He looked around and saw the familiar site of absolutely no one in the library and awkwardly patted the little boy's back.

"There there." Tom wasn't very good with comfort and now he wasn't even more so as he was a soul sucking monster from children's nightmares. So Tom achingly patted a clinical hand on Harry Potter's back and looked around in mild disgust. The library was empty but it was a public place after all. He wouldn't be crying in a public place. But then again Harry Potter wasn't him. Even with that suspiciously high amount of power, he just wasn't him.

"Harry! Harry, where are you son? Har-" As a voice drew closer Harry's slack body suddenly snapped into motion and he hid underneath the table. Tom watched with curiosity as a man who looked like an older version of Harry walked inside of the library. Madame Pince shot him a deadly look as he was yelling his son's name. Tom looked back down to Harry who glared up at the man.

"Excuse me sir but this is a library, you're going to have to leave." Her clipped tones made even Tom wince.

"Why? There's no one in here so it's not like I have to keep quiet for the kids! I'm looking for my son ma'am please just-"

"James!" A red headed woman walked inside of the library and Harry cowered. _His mother._ "What are you doing here? I told you to stay away from my son-"

"_Your_ son? It takes two to tango, _Evans!_ Or is it _Snape_ now?"

The woman's lips tightened as she glared at Harry's father, James Potter. "We are not having this conversation right now. _Go away._" Tom was right in assuming this was Harry's mother as she had said go away in the same way her son had just now. James and Lily begun bickering with Madame Pince yelling at the two in hushed tones. Harry rolled his eyes and sighed. _This must happen often._

He took his glasses off, wiped his eyes, cleaned his glasses, put them on, and then scooted out from under the table. "Mom. Dad."

The two stopped their arguing and called out their son's name in relief. They went over and hugged him.

"Oh honey you had us so scared, running off like that."

"Your mother is right," James grudgingly admitted. "You've been going off on your own lately and with the kidnappings starting up again-"

"I know. I know. I'm fine. I was at Draco's." James' face scrunched up.

"Malfoy's? You're friends with a Malfoy?" Lily glared at him and stood akimbo.

"If you paid any actual attention to your own son you'd know they've been friends for month now." James opened his mouth to retaliate when suddenly his fire had died down.

"You're right." Lily raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms. "I've been neglectful of Harry." He suddenly looked sheepish. Lily nodded but still was confused. She knew her husband was wrong but her husband usually never did. "In fact that's why I rushed down here. I wanted to spend some father-son time with him. You know like how it was with my dad." He ended stiffly. Lily's suspicions weren't completely silent but her heart grew softer when James mentioned his father.

"Well... alright. We may not be on the best of terms, James but he is your son too. It does take two to tango after all." She smiled weakly at him and he smiled back. Harry wanted to scream that's not my dad but he was just glad that the arguing was done with. He was less glad when his 'dad' put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and looked to Lily.

"That being said, I think I should be the one to drive him home. How about it sport?" He ended a tad awkwardly before ruffling his hair. Harry was forced to smile and nod. Lily sighed.

"Okay but don't be stopping everywhere. It takes you an hour to get home when we live down the street!" She hugged her son and bade him farewell as they exited Hogwarts. She started her car and drove away living Harry with not his dad but a mister Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr.


	8. Strange Yet Dull Little Whinging

**Disclaimer:** I wasn't even born when the first Harry Potter book came out so I'd imagine it'd be pretty difficult to write seven of them!

The Monster Under the Bed

Chapter Eight: Strange Yet Dull Little Whinging

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><p>The drive home had already been awkward enough without his 'dad' speaking but when he turned on the radio and the song <em>I Wanna Sex You Up by Color Me Badd<em> had been playing Harry started screaming internally as he calmly reached for the dial and shut the music off. He would have continued his staring outside of the window when the 'monster' had caught his eye.

"So…" Harry glared at him.

"Is that all you can say?" He turned his body to the right as he pressed his face against the window.

"Well if you responded how you are supposed to respond then no, _Harry_, it would not be the only thing from my mouth thus far." His hands tightened on the wheel so loudly that Harry knew the action had happened even without seeing it. He scooted even closer to the door.

"How am I supposed to respond?" Harry asked through gritted teeth.

There was a pause before the horrified sounding 'adult' said, "My God Harry Potter do you know not of idle chatter among sheep?"

"Are you calling me a sheep?" He pointedly ignored the bigger question he had been asked.

"Of course I am, God was a Sheppard." Tom blinked James' eyes. "That's not the point." _I wonder what is then_. "The point is, however, that when one says 'so' and trails off then it is safe to assume that you say 'so' back. For encouragement."

"And a serial kidnapper slash murderer needs encouragement?"

Harry couldn't _see_ the man's grin but he could _hear_ it. "_Precisely_."

After a few moments of silence Harry decided to chance asking a risky question. "Are you kidnapping me?" The monster hummed in thought.

"I don't know Harry. Am I?" Harry payed more attention to their surroundings and realized they were heading out of town. He groaned.

"Can't you pick on somebody _else?_"

"No."

Harry faced the monster whom had his father grinning such a sinister smile that Harry could actually feel himself faltering. He wanted to turn away again but knew that was weakness. Yet in that moment he didn't want to bring himself to care. He decided to use Draco's secret weapon in self control. He tilted his head back and jutted his jaw forward. He had a light scowl which wouldn't match Draco's since the blonde had had _years_ to practice his while Harry had never scowled at anyone before. "_Why?_"

The monster took a moment to look at Harry's stance in amusement before focusing his eyes on the road. "Again with the why. Such a curious child. You do know that curiosity _kills_ the cat, correct?" This time he did take his eyes off of the road to fix Harry with a pointed glance.

"The cat has nine lives." A laugh filled the car. He knew it wasn't his fathers as his dad's was always loud and contagious as well as it was warm. This laugh was loud, yes, but it lacked warmth and was too sharp to be contagious.

"And when will your lives run out _Harry Potter?_ You've already used up _one_ in my presence. One too _many_ at that." Harry sighed.

"I don't know. Can you just take me home _instead_ of kidnapping me?" He had sounded exhausted and he was. It had been a trying day indeed.

"I am capable of doing so, yes." Harry had had his face in his hand but removed it to look back at the man posing as his father.

"_Will_ you take me home instead of kidnapping me?"

"No."

"Look Riddle I've had a long day and I'm _tired_. Can- no _will_ you let this lie for a couple of days?" Since the two were at a red light Tom looked to the younger boy.

"I'm assuming this had something to do with your... _breakdown_ earlier today?" He had raised an eyebrow which had made James' face look so aristocratic Harry had wanted to laugh. But seeing as that was inappropriate for the time he settled with grunting in the affirmative as he looked out at the houses which all looked the same. Riddle had sighed. "Very well Harry Potter. I shall let you go _for now_. But let it be known..." As he trailed off Harry knew this was a cue for him to look up at him so he saved himself the headache and did just that. "...this is under no circumstances over. Have you got that Mister Harry Potter?"

"You're just going to wear my name out aren't you?" Riddle glared and Harry nodded. "Yes, yes. We'll continue this... _whatever_ this is later. I've got it, crystal clear! Now take me home _please_." Harry had purposely given Riddle the wrong address and even had to knock on the door and pretend Mrs. Weasley was his aunt or something for Riddle to just _go away._

Mrs. Weasley hadn't minded though and had even baked Harry some sweets because the boy looked like he had needed some fat on him or so Mrs. Weasley had thought aloud.

"My Ronnie has told a lot about you, he has! The little boy wonder down the street! Why if my little Ginny wasn't so attached to her darling friend Luna so recently I'd say you'd be the perfect fit for her!" Harry had yet to meet the youngest Weasley as she and Luna Lovegood had been kidnapped a little while ago, but found soon afterwards in a nearby forest with no recollection of what had happened. So all Harry could do was grin awkwardly and nod along to Mrs. Weasley's silly musings. He really was unsuited for idle chatter made by sheep.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

It had really made no sense at all. Two little girls go missing only to show up out of the blue and in a forest no less! Albus Dumbledore had had his suspicions but they were so _irrational_ even for him. It had been _years_ ago since the Potters had lived in Little Whinging so they had returned they were welcomed with open arms from not just Mrs. Potter's family but the entire community. But then again what _did_ the Potters have to do with the two little girls? It was simple really, the son to the Potters had been the almost last victim to the monster under the bed. Albus Dumbledore wasn't one to turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to the pleading of a child, especially when multiple children were going on about the same thing, so he had looked into the manner. Let it be said that it had been such an unsettling experience. On the night Harry was almost taken away Albus had witnessed the whole thing. Because Harry _had_ been taken away.

**FLASHBACK START**

Not many knew that the principle of Hogwarts had enjoyed nightly strolls but he had. As he walked along the peaceful streets of Little Whinging he could see a figure breaking and entering into the Potter's residence. It was upon investigating that he was able to recognize the figure. It was _himself._

As he stared on in awe, for how could he be inside of the Potter's residence when he remained outside? Furthermore how could he actually _see_ himself within another's home, even if he had broken in? In the Dumbledore copy's hands was a bundle of blankets. He had leaned forward to discover it was a baby. This baby happened to look just like the Potter couple's except a thin, lighting shaped scar was burned into the boy's forehead, and by the look of it pretty recently too. The other Dumbledore looked down upon the baby with a mournful expression. "Too young..." He mumbled other things which Albus couldn't quite hear with his aged ears. Albus soon figured out that the other him, boy was this confusing, hadn't been speaking to the baby in his arms but the baby inside of his crib.

As the copy lay the baby, _was he a copy as well?_, down within the simple crib he soon picked up a limp child from the crib. This, Albus knew, was the actual Potter child however he had been covered with drying blood and showed no signs of life. The other he had shaken his head and caressed the deceased child. He looked into Harry's crib and said, "May peace find you, my boy." And then like that he was gone. _ Like magic_.

"Lily did you hear that?"

"Yeah, it came from... _Harry's_ room! My God _James!_" Moments later the Potter parents had rushed into their son's room. There lay their son. Lily sighed in relief. "Oh he's just fine then."

"Lily..." James looked uncertainly to his son as he walked over. Lily hummed as she lifted her child up and held him close.

"Now don't panic..." Lily looked up to James as she clutched Harry tighter. "What's happened to Harry's head?" Lily quickly glanced back to Harry's forehead which barred an unusual scar. She gasped.

"I... I don't know!" She gasped again and looked up to her husband. "What if... what if it was _him?_" A moment later someone had knocked on the door. The two newly weds had looked to the each other and then hurried on to the living room. Upon opening the door they discovered it was Kingsley Shacklebot. James Potter straighten his back as he looked to his subordinate.

"What is it Officer? It's late." Kingsley grimaced and nodded.

"I know, sir, but we've got some questions to ask." He stepped aside to show the two, three if you counted Harry and four for Dumbledore still watching on silently, Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr. within his police car. He had grinned so grimly at the couple before faltering when he spotted the child in Lily's arms. He screamed something that no one could hear but as Dumbledore shifted in the bushes he read his lips.

"I _killed_ you!"

**FLASHBACK END**

Yes Dumbledore had had a feeling that this mysterious boy had been the key in the disappearance of _the monster under the bed_ as well as Miss Weasley and Miss Lovegood's brief disappearances. That other him too. Wherever he had came from. Albus had made it a personal mission to find out even if it had spelled his death. For the children of Little Whinging. For the greater good he knew that he must.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

Ron had woken up like he did on any school day, slowly and begrudgingly. As he wiped the drool from his mouth with the back of his hand he blinked away sleep from his eyes. He heard his mother scream that it was time to wake up from below and he groaned. School had always been boring and seemed more like a tool which was used against him by his own brothers and even his sister. Although now he could let it slide for his younger sister considering what she had gone through recently. She and Luna had been gone for days. It had upset his mother so much she had gone so disturbingly quiet. The family dinners had no longer been so cheery as they were and Ron found himself berating his behavior towards the youngest Weasley. Sure he had teased her but what if she had ran off with Luna to God knows where _because_ of it? He just couldn't breathe. However now she was back with Luna and without their memories of the past couple of days. With the others seeing him, even Harry who was still new, he had felt he knew why.

Ron had stopped himself from speculating the issue any further by sitting up from the bed and walking on numb and cold feet. While he put on his clothes for the day he saw a piece of wood onto of the table next to his bedside. He grinned despite himself and grabbed it with enthusiasm. This magic he had... it was special. Sure his older brothers had had their charms and ambitious, even the twins and Ginny, but Ron... well Ron had nothing of his own. So that day they had figured out they could use magic... his life had had meaning. He was no longer Ron Weasley, the youngest Weasley son who lived without a cause but Ron Weasley, sorcerer in training who meant something to someone. Ron just loved it. He twirled around his wand like books had shown him but couldn't do much but produce sparks with his willow wooded wand.

After the five had opened the growing trunk they had discovered an arrange of books and various magical items, five copies of each so they wouldn't have to fight over them. They also had discovered Draco's small chest had given them anything they had requested. That made life so much easier especially when the children didn't know the first thing when it came to magic. Ron had never been one for reading so he hadn't been so educated on his newly discovered magical abilities but neither had Neville nor Draco. They had taken to Herbology and Potions respectively. Harry and Hermione on the other hand had consumed each book on just about every subject about magic that they could find. _I bet those two know _every_ spell like the back of their hand._ Ron had tried to be positive but he just felt jealousy whenever he saw the two understand magic so quickly and effectively while he was still stuck on the first chapters of most of those tomes.

When Ron was done with the day he went over to Harry's house. Ever since they had started practicing magic they had training sessions at someone's house everyday. Today was the new kid's day. Ron wasn't sure what to make of Harry but he was nice enough. Sure he was the snake but... snakes are good too sometimes... right? He sure did hope so.


End file.
